Interpretive Summary: Since the advent of genomics, numerous research projects have generated a wealth of data on the diversity of organisms. All too frequently, however, these data sets are abandoned after the results are published, making them inaccessible for further study or review. The Genomic Diversity and Phenotype Connection (GDPC) is a software tool that accelerates the public availability of this data by providing the infrastructure to create and use connections to multiple data sources. By participating in the development of such tools and utilizing them in our work, we are better able to evaluate the enormous diversity of plant germplasm and more equipped to conduct exhaustive research. GDPC can be freely accessed at www.maizegenetics.net/gdpc/index.html.

Technical Abstract:
The goal of this project is to simplify access to genomic diversity and phenotype data, thereby encouraging reuse of this data. The Genomic Diversity and Phenotype Connection (GDPC) accomplishes this by retrieving data from one or more data sources and by allowing researchers to analyze integrated data in a standard format. GDPC is written in JAVA and provides: 1) a front-end application that allows users to manage data sources, retrieve data based on filters, sort/group data based on property values, and save/open the data as XML files; 2) a JAVA API for programmatic access to data sources; and 3) JAVA classes to aid in development of GDPC connections to new data sources. The source code, compiled code, documentation, and GDPC Browser are freely available at: www.maizegenetics.net/gdpc/index.html.